Website Structure and Design Principles for Desklib

COVER PAGE

URL
http://u1106010.cloudaccess.host/
Website structure
Structure of a website is a very important factor to consider when designing a website because it helps
determine the usability of the website. A well-structured website is easy to use if users are able to
access different parts of the website. For the design of the website some key website design principles
that are applicable to Wordpress were considered. These principles include;
 Usability- Usability of the website is a key design principle for any website. To achieve usability,
the requirements of the website have to be fully understood so as to select the best type of
theme. There are many Wordpress themes but choosing the right theme for the website
determines the final design of the website. For the proposed website, I had to select a website
with e-commerce features integrated into the theme. Choosing the right Wordpress theme
significantly reduces the amount of time used to design the website.
 Designing for mobile first- Designing for mobile first is a concept where the developer designs
the website while highly considering mobile devices. This concept ensures that the design
achieves a high degree of responsiveness to make it possible to use with different screen
resolutions. Wordpress themes can be further customized to add more tweaks and features that
optimize the theme further when it’s opened in mobile devices. Apart from the website being
responsive, there are other aspects of mobile devices to consider like the usability of the
website for a mobile device with touch since the mobile industry is growing fast and almost all
mobile devices are touch enabled. This means that the design should consider all these factors
and optimize the design for use in mobile devices.
 Designing for accessibility- designing for accessibility means eliminating any barriers that
prevent access to the website by a person with a disability. This is a crucial factor as it ensures
that any visitor who visits the website has an equal opportunity to consume the content of the
website and use its features. Designing for accessibility involves analyzing the theme’s visual
contract, to make sure each section of the website is visible and accessible. The font is also
considered and should be not be too small especially for paragraphs of text.
The structure used for the website includes the following sections;
 Header- This is the first section of each page. It comprises of the logo and the name of the
website and the navigation menu. The navigation menu has a link to every page making up the
website.
 Navigation trail- This section is used to show the user which page they are currently in from the
home page. For example if the user is on the contacts page then the navigation trail will be
Home>Contacts. This section is very important as it helps the user to trace which page he or she
is in from the home page.
 Content section- This section has the content for every page.
 Footer section- The footer section has the copyright information for the website.
This structure is used on all the pages except the home page which includes a few other sections. The
website is made up of the following pages;